- This post is in response to an "Open Letter to Jon Bon Jovi" which can be read here.
Part I: Every Night Staples
I’m fully aware for the casual fan there are certain songs you must perform, here’s a rundown of what they would expect to see:
“You Give Love A Bad Name”
“Livin’ On A Prayer”
“Wanted Dead Or Alive”
“Bad Medicine”
“Born To Be My Baby”
“Keep The Faith”
“Always”
“It’s My Life”
“Who Says You Can’t Go Home”
“Lost Highway”
Please, just put "Bad Name" somewhere else other than in the first four songs.
Then there’s the rest which should be rotated in and out:
“Raise Your Hands”
“Lay Your Hands On Me”
“Blood On Blood”
“I’ll Be There For You”
“In These Arms”
“Bed of Roses”
“Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”
“Just Older”
“Have A Nice Day”
Part II: Fan Requests
I sent an email out to a number of fans and received over three hundred responses. Here’s a rundown of songs fans requested. Just for the record, I (and I hope your fans) don’t expect to see each of these songs nightly, but it would be nice to see them pulled out here and there. There’s no reason that three slots every night couldn’t be dedicated to the songs listed below. Fans may not see all the songs they want to see in one show, but this would drive them to see more than one show.
A few notes about the requests:
• Over 94% of the responses mentioned that they want to hear songs from the first two records.
• 87% mentioned “Edge of a Broken Heart” as the song they most want to hear
• 86% mentioned the These Days record in some form and fashion. In fact, as far as full and complete albums being performed, These Days received more votes than any other album. The only other one that was close was New Jersey. For the record, aside from an O2 gig in London (where the album was huge), I don’t expect to see the full album performed in one night. However, considering many fans have gone back and re-discovered this album and most likely missed the band in 1995 when it was toured, something should be played from it nightly.
• Even though I didn’t ask for it, 70% of the emails included songs they don’t want to hear.
Most requested Albums:
1. These Days
2. New Jersey
3. Slippery When Wet
4. 7800
5. Bon Jovi
Most Requested Songs:
1. "Edge of a Broken Heart"
2. "Wild Is The Wind"
3. "Dry County"
4. "I Believe"
5. "Hey God"
6. "Never Say Goodbye"
7. "Something To Believe In"
8. "In & Out of Love"
9. "Tokyo Road"
10. "Let It Rock"
11. "Next 100 Years"
12. "Diamond Ring"
13. "Silent Night"
14. "Hardest Part Is The Night"
15. "This Ain’t A Love Song"
16. "It’s Hard Letting You Go"
17. "Stick To Your Guns"
18. "Roulette"
19. "Cadillac Man"
20. "Shooting Star"
21. "Homebound Train"
22. "Bang A Drum"
23. "Hearts Breaking Even"
24. "Miracle"
25. "If That’s What It Takes"
26. "Get Ready"
27. "Shot Through the Heart" (w/ "Bang Bang intro)
28. "Without Love"
29. "The Distance"
30. "Breakout"
31. "Let’s Make It Baby"
32. "Hook Me Up"
33. "Blood Money"
34. "Living In Sin"
35. "One Wild Night"
36. "Any Other Day"
37. "The Boys Are Back In Town"
38. "I’d Die For You"
39. "Only Lonely"
40. "99 In The Shade"
41. "Hallelujah"
42. "Here Comes The Sun"
43. "Seven Days"
44. "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
45. "Lie To Me"
I know this list is a long shot, especially number one, “Edge of a Broken Heart”. However, you have to realize, this song received more airplay in the late 80’s than any of your minor hits this past decade.
Part III: Richie Sambora’s Set
Having played “Stranger In This Town” and I’ll Be There For You” for the better part of the decade, Richie should take his moment in the spotlight to show how diverse he can be. Why not “Undiscovered Soul”, “Hard Times Come Easy” or even “Fallen From Graceland” from his second solo record? “Rosie” would also be a great choice since it was originally written for New Jersey and would work the crowd up. He could also pull off “We All Sleep Alone” originally written for Cher. My wild card request would be “According To The Gospel Of Love”, written for Desmond Child’s Discipline record. That riff alone could tear the roof off any arena even if it is unknown. If all else fails, how about a cover of Slowhand’s “Layla”, I know Richie would own it and the crowd would react vociferously.
Part IV: Don’t Even Think About It
“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”
I’ll admit to being a snob here. This song needs to die. With a bevy of hits at your fingertips, how this song has been performed at every single show for nearly 18 years is beyond me. No one wants to hear this song, especially in lieu of album cuts and hits. After 18 years of performing the song, it’s time to retire it. If it continues to get performed I will have to take drastic measures. I come from a city where my favorite baseball team hasn’t won a World Series in over a century. A similar curse will be put on the Giants. It will start with them never winning a post season game ever again. If the song continues to be performed, the curse will be spread to never making the playoffs, then to never winning against Dallas and if I really have to, I’ll see to it that Dallas wins the division every year. No one wants this, so please, let’s bury this one and perform one of the hundred or so songs you have that are superior to this one.
“Joey”
Reggie and Bernie called, they want their song back.
“I Love This Town”
I know you like this, but I can’t tell you what a mass exodus this song elicits. Every show I have seen this song performed at has found the crowd zapped of its energy. Even at Summerfest last summer in Milwaukee, you came-you saw-you rocked and the show was a high energy party, until you played this song which was the only song of the entire show people sat for and in some cases, headed for the exit early.
All over-played covers
This includes “Shout”, “Twist and Shout”, and “Treat Her Right”. It's time to freshen things up. I wouldn’t mind hearing “Helter Skelter” or “Hallelujah”, but for a band that did some defining covers in the late 1980’s it’s time to take some chances again. Why not Patty Griffin’s “Up To The Mountain”? Never heard it, check it out here:
Part V: Songs That Should Be Temporarily Retired
“Runaway”
This has been performed at nearly every show for the last three tours. While certainly a hit, by no means does this one need to be played every night. This one could gladly sit out the tour allowing for other tracks from the first two records to be heard.
“Radio Saved My Life Tonight”
Great song from the box set but with so many great songs on the set, why only focus on this one song?
Most post-2000 songs
As mentioned earlier, most people seeing this upcoming tour will have seen you before and chances are multiple times this decade. The album cuts from the last few records could be given a rest and no one will really complain (“Complicated”, “We Got It Going On”. “Captain Crash”, “Joey”, etc.). As far as a full-on performance of Lost Highway, there is a DVD of the whole album and if someone really wants to see it, they’ll spend the $10 and save them the headache of paying for parking and having beer spilled on them.
Thanks for reading…
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
